Danny White talks ABC, ESPN GameDay visiting UCF: 'This is a big moment'
This is one of the biggest weeks in UCF history.
The Knights, in the midst of a historic run with a 22-game winning streak, host Cincinnati in a major American Athletic Conference showdown. The game will take center stage nationally with ABC prime time coverage and UCF will be on showcase as well with ESPN's College GameDay originating from campus that morning.
Danny White, UCF Vice President and Director of Athletics, has been instrumental in elevating the entire sports program since arriving in Orlando three years ago.
On Wednesday, White met with local media to not only talk about the exposure but also the need for an inclusive national championship process.
What does this week mean for UCF?
"I think it's a big moment for our university to have an ABC prime time kick with all those households tuning in across the country. Just a huge platform. Obviously to host College GameDay, we're really proud to have that program here. It's meant so much to the sport for decades. We're really excited. I think they're going to be impressed with what they see here with our fanbase and the pageantry of college football here on our campus. There's no better location than Memory Mall for College GameDay. I'm just grateful mostly to our student-athletes. People talk about a lot of the conversation that's been happening around the country about our football program and the College Football Playoff. The reality is none of this would be happening if those kids hadn't won 22 straight football games. It's amazing what they've been able to accomplish."
What was your reaction when you heard College GameDay was coming?
"I was probably a little bit surprised, but excited. I think it's just a great opportunity for our university."
Why were you surprised?
"Just with some of the conversation that's been going on nationally about whether you think our team deserves to play in the playoff or not. More importantly for us, whether the playoff constituted with four teams is acceptable to really declare the one true national champion. I don't feel like it is. I feel that it needs to be expanded. I'd like to see the conversation turn to that."
Obviously it starts with the players, but do you think the noise that has been created by you and the fanbase, contributed to maybe ESPN deciding to come here?
"I don't know if it did or it didn't. I think it's mostly about the players. And credit Cincinnati for having a bounce-back year and what Coach Fickell has done with that program in just his second year. For them to be in the top 25, it's a big-time showdown. The matchup this week and certainly GameDay's decision to come here is more evidence of what we've been saying. There's a Power Six in college football. We've shown that on the field in the American Athletic Conference. We've shown that across the board in all of our sports. We compete nationally and we're going to continue to do that."
Herbstreit and those guys are influence makers in college football. I don't know if you'll get a chance to sit down and talk to them, but what do you hope to get them to know about UCF that maybe that they don't?
"I think they're going to be impressed with what they see on our campus and I think they're going to be impressed with what they see of our fanbase, both in the morning at GameDay and how that stadium will be literally bouncing. It's going to be an electric atmosphere. Most importantly, I think they're going to be impressed with what they see in person on the field. On our team and on Cincinnati's team. We have high-level athletes on both sides of the ball. We can compete with everybody. We've shown that. You look at a team like Pitt and the success they're having in the ACC and we know how that game went here. I hope that they come away with a different impression of what UCF Football is, our university or what our fanbase is, and what football in the American Athletic Conference is."
When you look at what this weekend means to UCF, how do you think this will help to continue to push the brand?
"I think it's just yet another milestone. We think there's going to be a lot more milestones. The national championship banner we put in the stadium last year? We think it's going to be the first of many. We've won two New Year's Six bowl games now in the past five years. It's amazing what this university and this football program has accomplished in just a short time. It's not just our football program that is young. It's the entire university. We're 50 years old. The average age of our alumni base is 35. We're graduating more kids every year than any other university in the country. The future for us is the largest fanbase in college athletics across the country. That's what we see happening with the growth potential of the city of Orlando and this university. This is just another step in the right direction. I would think this would be the first of many times that College GameDay comes here to UCF."
Behind closed doors with all the power brokers in college football, do you think people are coming around to the Power Six way of thinking?
"I don't know. I'm focused on what we're doing here. I certainly have a lot of conversations with colleagues around the country. People recognize the strength of our league and recognize the accomplishments of our student-athletes here."
Is it frustrating that it appears to be a double-standard with the College Football Playoff rankings every week. They talk about UCF's defense and yet Oklahoma has similar results yet isn't penalized. It seems the goal posts move every week.
"I hear our fans talk about the goal posts moving. We're coming up with different excuses this week or next week. I think it's less about that. I think that's what is going to happen when you have a subjective process. I don't think it's the fault of the committee in that room. I think they're doing their very best to deliver what they've been charged to do. That's the way they see it. There's an opportunity to have a lot more objectivity into this and allow it to really be settled on the field like literally every other sport in America, college and pro. I'd like to see it headed in that direction."
You were kind of shaking the hornet's nest with the approach you've taken in the past year. Do you feel any personal vindication in this, that the approach you've taken has been effective?
"No. I don't take things personally in any of this stuff. I'm doing my best to represent and to defend our football team first and to a certain extent our university with some of the negative stuff that's coming out of really us celebrating the accomplishments of our student-athletes. I'll always defend what I think is right for UCF. I actually enjoy doing it."
You've been pretty vocal about expanding the playoff. I know you don't want to speak for anybody else, but do you hear support from others, from colleagues that agree with your stance?
"I do. I don't think it's just a P5/G5 thing. I don't think there is a P5/G5. If there's a power anything, there's a Power Six. The majority of the currently so-called Power Five schools don't really have a realistic shot of getting in that top four. I think we've come a long way from when we started with the BCS. We finally staged a national championship game with what we thought were the top two teams. No we've got four. It's still not an objective system that allows it to be settled on the field. I think if we do that it would be so powerful for the game. It would make the last month of the regular season so much more intriguing. If you ask the student-athletes, I feel highly confident that's what they would want. They want all their hard work they put in during the offseason and really through their prep and college careers to end on the field. If you're not winning the national championship, then you should end with a loss."
Not just GameDay and this game, but looking at what volleyball is doing, men's soccer hosting a NCAA game, the visibility going on, what's it like to be Danny White right now?
"It's busy. We're really trying to work to capitalize on the moment. We've had some coaches do phenomenal things. What our volleyball team has done, what our men's soccer team has done in just a second-year head coach, it's really amazing. It's across the board. Our spring sports I think are going to have great years. Both basketballs are going to have great years. It shows what we all thought. People talked about it before I got here and a lot of us got here, that UCF is a sleeping giant. We don't talk about sleeping giant anymore. We're starting to see there is real components to our competitive advantages and our coaches are realizing that. That's a big reason why we were able to recruit these level of coaches. They see you can win here and do it the right way. It's just an attractive place to come and be a student-athlete and compete at a high level. I think this is just the beginning. We set up our strategic plan, the Knights Charge, to build a perennial top 25 athletic department and we're starting to see that play out, but we have a lot more work to do."
How much has your phone been ringing from boosters and donors, reaching out for fundraising?
"It's big. We're always having conversations with folks about making a philanthropic investment, to realize the potential. This is a pretty easy sell philanthropically because there's such a huge upside here. People see their philanthropic dollars can go a long way. We actually have an exciting announcement later this week in terms of fundraising. We have a lot going on. My voicemail is usually full."
Instead of penalizing UCF in the rankings by the committee, penalizing UCF for not being in a Power Five league, shouldn't you guys get extra credit because you're doing this without the $50 million check every year?
"That's a good point. We do more with less. Our staff, the ones you guys work with and those that work with our student-athletes, they're doing the job sometimes of three or four people compared to other athletic departments. Our coaching staff, the same thing. We invest in talented people. It starts with getting the right head coaches. Really finding the right people in helping us accomplish what we want to accomplish. We have to do more with less, but we take pride in that."
I think Washington State talked about having the all-time attendance record for GameDay. Do you think UCF fans can potentially break that GameDay attendance record?
"There is no doubt in my mind that we will break that attendance record. Whatever it is, I think our student body and our fans are primed and ready to go. I talk about this a lot. We had the opportunity as a young university to really create what a lot of universities would probably do if they could start over in terms of our athletics village. And Memory Mall is such a unique setup for student tailgating. To have all that open space lends itself to an enormous crowd. I can't wait to see it."
Have you been asked to be a guest on College GameDay?
"I haven't been asked to be a guest. Just proud to have those guys here. I'll certainly take every opportunity to promote what we have going on here at UCF."
Will you talk to Herbstreit and those guys? Do you have an interview setup with them?
"I don't, but looking forward to seeing those guys when they get in town here later in the week."
On Monday, McKenzie Milton called you the best athletic director in the country. What does that mean to you?
"I think he's the best quarterback in the country. He's way too generous with his comments. All we're doing is promoting and getting behind the momentum they built on that football field and the momentum that a lot of our teams have built. That's what really matters. We can market and scream out loud till the cows come home about how great we are, but if we're not backing that up with how our teams are competing then it really means nothing. It starts with those guys."
UCF signs have been at GameDay, whether it's Pullman, Washington or wherever. Are you anxious to see the creativity that will be on full display Saturday morning?
"I think it's going to be a lot of fun. I love to see the UCF brand at GameDay. I'm not sure our alums had to travel there because we have so many alums across the country. No matter where you go, we'll have some in the neighborhood. It was great to see the brand at other GameDay sites. I think we'll see a whole lot of the UCF brand and we'll see some good-natured humor as well on campus."
Is this the biggest week marketing, exposure and publicity wise maybe in UCF history?
"You know what, it probably is. We may have to engage another marketing study to see what the brand value is. I know it was just south of $200 million the last time through the Peach Bowl run and the Shaquem Griffin story. It's been a great week to be a Knight, that's for sure."